Selective announces CEO succession plan

Selective has announced that John J. Marchioni, who has served as the Company’s President and Chief Operating Officer since 2013, has been unanimously elected by the Selective Board of Directors as its next Chief Executive Officer, effective February 1, 2020.  Mr. Marchioni will succeed Gregory E. Murphy, who will retire as CEO after serving in the position since 1999.  Mr. Murphy, Chairman of the Selective Board since 2000, will assume the newly created role of Executive Chairman of the Selective Board upon his retirement.

Since Mr. Murphy became CEO in 1999, Selective and its best-in-class employees, along with its “ivy league” independent insurance agent partners, have achieved significant financial and business success:

• Total Shareholder Return of 1,081%
• Increased market capitalization by more than 6.5 times, from $555 million to $4.3 billion
• Tripled net premiums written, from $750 million to $2.5 billion.
• Achieved top-performing financial performance with non-GAAP operating return on equity averaging 11.6% and 11.4% over the past three and five years, respectively.
• Expanded commercial lines operations from 16 to 27 states and entered the excess and surplus lines marketplace.
• Successfully offered securities in public and private markets, most recently issuing $300 million of 30-year senior notes at 5.375%.
• Implemented commercial lines predictive modeling, now in the third generation.
• Enhanced safety management efforts with new tools and resources to detect and prevent safety issues within insureds’ businesses before a loss occurs.
• Strengthened organizational and leadership capabilities, enabling the attainment of Selective’s challenging business goals.
• Made diversity and inclusion an organizational and business imperative.
• Elevated customer experience focus to build loyalty through proactive customer communications that help manage risks; self-service and digital policy offerings; and value-added services and innovative technologies, such as Selective^® Drive and SWIFTClaim.
• Installed a 2.9-megawatt AC ground-mount solar photovoltaic generation facility at Selective’s corporate headquarters that shows our commitment to the environment and provides financial benefits from the sale of the associated solar renewable energy credits.